This is a perfect example of not hearing what you listen to, and
     presuming to second guess someone else's desires. Nobody said anything
     about the flagpole itself, just to take care of the flag because it is
     important. Too many people who are in charge of things have thought
     processes like that facilities manager.  -Grace

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Project Manager
Author:  " preservation consultant john leeke" <[log in to unmask]> at internet
Date:    9/2/98 9:50 AM


Last Vetran's Day the owner's father was in town and noticed the flag was a
little frayed on the corners, so he bought a new flag and was getting ready to
run it up the pole. The janitor noticed him fumbling with the knots on the
rope so he came over to help out. They noticed the rope was in knots because
it had broken a while back, so they both went over to the hardware store to
pick up some rope. They got to telling war stories, but finally returned to
string up the new rope and ran up the new flag, and both stood back to give
Her a salute. It was an emotional moment for both of them. It was $62.75 for
the flag and the rope, right out of his own pocket, but well worth it.

The next morning at breakfast the owner's father related the incident to his
son and reminded him the flag was just as important as the building. The son
mentioned it to his facilities manager. It was the facilities manager who told
the project manager to get that flag pole fixed before the owner's father came
back to town or his goose was cooked. The account manager caught drift of this
and had two of his staff tracking down the costs:

$ 2,500. three project managers for one day
      500. project manager's report
      600. 5 minutes of the Programmer's time (Y2K rates)
   1,500. historic color analysis, verbal report only
      350. accounting staff time
------------
$ 5,450. Total Planning Cost

Final recommendation to the owner: Replace the flagpole with a new one.

Moral of the story: Maintenance Programming must allow for beneficial acts
from the heart.

John Leeke